Maintainers of all uniforms keep helicopters flying

Published April 22, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
451st AEW Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Many people may not think of the Air Force if they look out onto the rows of helicopters that stretch across the ramps of Kandahar Airfield. Most of the machines belong to the U.S. Army.

A handful, however, belong to the helicopter crew chiefs of the 451st Expeditionary Air Maintenance Squadron. Many of the same machines that rescued victims from Hurricane Gustav in 2008 now pull people from disaster in Afghanistan, said 1st Lt. James Guthrie, 55th Expeditionary Helicopter Maintenance Unit officer in charge.

Helicopters are uncommon in the Air Force, but most are used for search and recovery missions, or in the case of those at Kandahar Airfield, personnel recovery.

Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Morabito, a sheet metal and avionics mechanic, mentioned that he sees much more extraordinary wear and tear on Air Force helicopters because there aren't as many of them. More work is demanded of each aircraft.

Inevitably, when the helicopter develops issues beyond what the Air Force maintainers can fix at the airfield, it must be fixed at depot- a stage of maintenance when the aircraft can be pulled apart for heavy maintenance, beams cut out and welded back together. If the helicopter is flown back to the United States it may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, take several months and will handicap squadron as it works with fewer helicopters. Instead, due to an excellent working relationship, the Air Force simply moves it across the street.

"They do helicopter repair. Deep, depot level fixes," Lieutenant Guthrie described the Army's Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, a large clamshell tent sitting just off the helicopter ramp.

The most common problem is a crack in what the maintainers refer to as the 308 beam, which stretches over the roof of the helicopter and bears the brunt of the 20,000 pounds the HH-60 often carries. A severe enough crack could ground the aircraft and engineers may have the option of authorizing a one-time flight to repair.

The Air Force maintainers' relationship with the Army's AVCRAD at Kandahar Airfield dates back to 2006, although it evolved as different groups of deployers trickled through. Master Sgt. Douglas Roser, production superintendent listed five 308 beam repairs since late 2010, hundreds of thousands of dollars saved.

"It's a more ideal solution," said Lieutenant Guthrie. "They sat down and did the math for us."

He and the superintendents recalled an estimate of $8,000, per 308 beam repair; each one took about two weeks to twenty days to complete. Their relationship with the Army maintainers across the street has made the repair process much more efficient.

"And when we have a cook out, we'll invite them over," said Sergeant Morabito, of the friendship the Army and Air Force crew chiefs share. "We're all in this together, we have a good working relationship."

The faster the aircraft are repaired, the sooner they can get back to the pararescue team and helping to save lives, fly people to the hospital at Kandahar Airfield.

"What the guys do here, rescue crew chiefs, they have a whole different set of stressors," said Lieutenant Guthrie, describing how the HH-60 maintainers work differently.

The nature of the pararescue helicopters demand that they be ready to fly at any time, prepared to takeoff within fifteen minutes. The maintainers may have to drop what they are doing at a moment's notice to go the helicopter before it launches.

The U.S. Army may have a different mission from the helicopters across the street, but the airframes are similar enough that they can pool resources to keep them flying.

"The only way we'll be successful is if we work together," said AVCRAD production control officer Chief Warrant Officer Four Lisa Niner.

Helicopters fly regardless of the uniform of the crew

Helicopters fly regardless of the uniform of the crew

Maintainers of all uniforms keep helicopters flying